Cost of the Creed
by Spookie Kitten
Summary: A female Templar is kidnapped with an unknown motive. Her sister might know the reason, but the fact that Robert is a hinderance might stall her progress to find her. Will she find her sister, or a dead body?


Judi woke up to the sound of raised voices. Groaning, she put her arm over her eyes and lay there for a moment as the bright morning sun peaked through the window. After few moments of lying on the cot bed and trying to listen to the voices, she slowly heaved herself out of bed. After yawning and getting used to the bright morning light, she glanced around her small room looking for the undergarments of her Templar uniform; black lathered trousers and a long white linen shirt. The stone floor sent chills from the bottoms of her feet up her spine, and she hopped from foot to foot while putting on her trousers.

She then shuffled to the dining area, not far from her room, where her father and Robert de Sable were seated at the table. Being in a one-story building, Judi was grateful that she didn't have to walk down any stairs or walk all around the house to get to the dining room. Of course, one of the disadvantages was that the stone home Judi and her father had was that if it was a hot day, the house would boil. If it was cold outside, so would the inside.

On the way to the dining room, the voices started to get louder and she could make out an argument of some sort. If it was about her, she most likely would give whoever was there a few choice words. She clenched her fists in response, and thought about what she could say. The closer she got to the room, the more violent and cursed her thoughts became.

The dining room was actually pretty small, but they hardly used it due to the family's erratic schedules. There was dust starting to form around the top of the round dark wood table, and the four matching chairs were starting to chip slightly from lack of use. Other than that, the table appeared to be clean, save for a few plates that were messily pushed aside and a bottle of red wine sitting in front of Robert de Sable.

Robert de Sable was a bald man, around thirty with a somewhat tanned complexion. He was still in his Templar uniform, only without his helmet and the heavy chain mail that was required of all soldiers. His sword was on the left side of his body, prepared for any attack. Two of his guards were at his sides in uniform, without helmets; their posture slouched and unguarded with assorted bruises on their faces.

"What do you mean, she's gone?" Robert slammed his hands on the table, making the wine bottle sway violently. Judi started slightly at the sudden sound. "She could not have just walked away in the middle of the night!"

Judi walked in, ignoring the two soldiers' glares following her into the room. She picked up the plates and walked slowly to the kitchen that was an arm's reach away. The sink was already half-full with dirty dishes that she had forgotten to do. How was she supposed to do them if she was getting constant orders from Robert to do this, that, and the other thing? As she listened to the conversation, she placed the plates in the sink as quietly as possible, trying to concentrate on the words her father and Robert were saying.

"How else could she have left, Robert? It wasn't as if she was kidnapped." Pausing for a moment, Judi's father tilted his head, brows furrowing slightly. "Was she?"

"What's happening?" Judi cut in, walking back to the dining room from the kitchen and sitting in one of the last seats that weren't taken by one of Roberts' guards. The guards tensed greatly and quickly moved their hands to their swords.

"Relax, guards. She won't do anything." Robert turned to them briefly; watching as they slowly moved their hands back to the tabletop.

"Your sister is gone." Her father raised his eyebrows and glanced at Robert, as if looking for permission to continue. Robert spoke up, "Yes, Myla…She isn't here, as I hear."

Robert looked around, avoiding Judi's piercing eyes. He caught the slight mischievous glimmer of her dark green eyes for a split second before turning his gaze quickly to the fascinating gray stonewall in front of him."She was supposed to report to me this morning about the whereabouts of the assassin's hideout. When I did not see her, I ran to your father to ask where she was." He nodded to himself in agreement.

Judi's eyes widened as Robert was talking. As thoughts raced through her head, she shifted her gaze from Robert to her father and back again, at least a dozen times. 'If Myla really was kidnapped, wouldn't the assassins leave some sort of a threat, or even a ransom?' One of Judi's eyebrows rose. 'Or was Myla serious about leaving the Templars for those demented freaks in white robes? Wait… So she _wanted _to be kidnapped? And what was this about Robert sending her to seek out the hideout?'

_Swords clashed, making metal clink upon impact. Huffing, Myla jumped back a little bit, exposing an open opportunity for Judi to strike again. Judi ran forward, sword in her right hand, and made an attempt to disarm her, and instead having her own sword flying out of her hand across the Templar training yard. _

_The bright noon sunlight peaked through a group of clouds, pouring through the leaves of the trees, making their exhaustion and sweating almost unbearable. Huffing from the spar, Judi lazily walked to fetch her sword and bent over to catch her breath. Slowly rising from her bent position a few moments later, she turned to face her sister Myla. _

_"I guess you beat me, sister."_

_"No…" Myla paused to catch some of her breath. "It…is a tie."_

_Judi stumbled to the shady tree that was over the large training field, with Myla following her, and slowly sat on the dirt, exhaling at the caress of the gentle breeze._

_"So what do you want to do once we win this war, Myla?" Judi asked._

_"Get out of here." Myla pulled her knees up as far as she could towards her chest and rested her arms on top of her knees. "I don't want to kill, I don't want to fight. Most of all, I don't __**ever **want to continue being a Templar."_

_"Why not? We are on the side of justice." Judi tried to reason with her younger sister._

_"More of the side of judgment."_

_"Templars are not judgmental, Myla." Judi sighed sharply. Looking up, Myla saw the cold glare of her sister. "Assassins are judgmental. They don't even allow you to give a speech; they just kill you right on the ground you stand on." Judi put a thumb to her throat and made a sideways motion across it._

_"Maybe the assassins think differently."_

_"Now you're just talking nonsense."_

_"I'm serious, sister! Maybe they aren't as bad as we think they are."_

_Judi rolled her eyes and stood up. "Then why don't you find out for yourself? Then again, maybe they might kill you before you set foot on their ground." The second part was mumbled more to herself than towards her sister._

_"I will. And I **will **show you they mean well!"_

_"Don't bother to come back here. You are nothing but a…a…" Judi struggled to complete the sentence._

_"A what? __**A Traitor?** Label me what you will, sister, but I will find out the truth!" With that, Myla swiftly stood and walked away, fuming._

"Judi." Her father said sternly. Judi jumped slightly, now realizing the engulfing peace that surrounded the table.

"So, she was kidnapped?" She asked angrily. She didn't want them to know of the argument between Myla and her.

"We don't know, Judi." Her father replied calmly. "She might have gone to see a man, but we will not know until she comes back. _If _she comes back."

"I will send out my best men to track her down. They will communicate with everyone to narrow our search. Once we find her, we will…" Robert paused to find the right phrasing. "Ask her a few questions."

Judi grimaced at the wording.

"Of course. Judi," Her father turned to her. Judi looked up in attention, removing any trace of emotion from her face. "You will go with Mister de Sable, and assist him with whatever he needs."

"Yes father." Standing, she stretched for a moment before saying goodbye and walking back to her room to put on the rest of her Templar uniform. On her way back to her room, she feared the worst. 'Was Myla seriously taking on over twenty assassins? And if she was, was she dead?' Her vision started to get fuzzy, and needless adrenaline surged through her.

_Judi watched as her younger sister stomped back to the Templar building, sulking in her own thoughts as the door slammed behind Myla. Sighing heavily, Judi walked to the door, knocking in hopes that Myla would give her a second chance to speak. Unfortunately, all she heard was silence, followed by rustles and the snap of multiple buttons._

"_Open up, Myla! I know you're in there!" Judi shouted, knocking again._

_With no answer, Judi attempted to turn the knob, to no avail. Sighing again, she placed her head gently on the door, and spoke gently._

"_I know you're mad at me, Myla. That much I know. But you need to learn that some things are meant to be for a reason. I don't want you to go."_

_Judi's eyes welled up. "I'm concerned for your safety too, but please…stay for a while longer. I don't want to lose you to a group of insane people."_

_Silence was heard for a few moments before a softer, higher pitched voice answered._

"_I just don't want to do this anymore, sister. I can't take this!"_

'_Is she crying?' Judi thought._

"_It's bad enough Robert wants me to find the assassin's hideout."_

"_**What**?!" Judi lifted her head and pounded the door with her fist. "Robert will have you do** no such thing**!"_

"_He'll kill me if I don't."_

_Judi didn't answer after that. Why was her heart aching so much? She knew her sister had to be able to do things on her own, but under a threat? Abruptly, she turned on her heel and ran back home, tears flying out of her eyes and fists clenched tightly._

The chain mail hung carelessly over the foot of her bed, with her sword underneath the bed. As she got dressed, a new desire filled her mind: Find Myla, and save her before she dies.


End file.
